A warm winter weekend on the North Shore

With a late winter storm dumping up to a foot of snow on northern Minnesota, I knew this was the last weekend for any sort of winter fun. I headed up to the North Shore to snowshoe and meander a bit. My first stop was Gooseberry Falls State Park, where I got some info on the wolf that had been seen wandering around the past few days (mornings before 9, either on the lake north of the river or along the highway). With that out of the way, I headed up to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park and meandered a bit.

The trails absolutely sucked up there, either slushy or icy depending on whether they were in the shade or full sunlight. Not that it mattered, I was being more of a photographer than snowshoer today. I drove to Tettegouche State Park and walked partway to Shovel Point, slipping and sliding as I went. The views near the arch rock (not sure if it has an official name) were cool.




That was about it for the day. I've never really found a great spot for sunset along the North Shore - seems like the clouds never really cooperate and this day was no exception.

Next morning, I got up early and went to Gooseberry for a chance to see the elusive wolf. The snowshoe trail was quite icy but doable, deer and seagulls were everywhere but unfortunately no wolf. I suppose some day I will see one but my camera will most likely be stashed away at that moment.

I did some more snowshoeing up at George Crosby Manitou State Park. This park is pretty primitive, no campground or visitor center, but some nice trails and very few visitors. No staff either, so the road in was plowed only to the park entrance, adding about a mile to my trek altogether. To be consistent, I didn't enjoy the trail very much - lots of forest views, little in the way of wide open scenery, and basically no wildlife. Some day I'll learn.

On my way home, I stopped and took some photos of the ice piled up on the shore of Lake Superior near Duluth.

The rest of 'em are here.